More Pictures of Andrew...and the Birth Story

So this birth experience was soooo much better than it was with Delia. I made the sacrafice of driving to Durango, CO( about 1 hour away) to be seen by the doctors there and to deliver at the that hospital. I had heard too many horror stories of the one here in Farmington. It was worth it! It was so much more of a personal experience this time. There wasn't a bunch of hussle and bussle with so many doctors and nurses coming in and out of my room! There was only a total of 4 people vs. 25 that were there last time! My labor went fast. About 8 am I was at 3 cm and they started the cytotec, which is a tiny pill they put directly on the cervix. 4 hours later about 12 pm they checked me again and I was only at 4 cm. My contractions were pretty mild and were coming about every 3-5 mins. but I passed the time away by watching the Law & order marathon on TV. eventhough I was only at a 4, they decided to break my water to speed things up and boy did it! since Andrew was still so high in my belly, she had a difficult time trying to break my water. I had already had an epidural with Delia when my water was broke so I had felt no pain. But with this one it was one of the most painful things I have experienced. After that the contractions came on stronger and were getting closer together. They lasted about 1-2 mins. and were coming every minute to 30 seconds. It was pretty intense. I told them I definitely wanted an epidural, ut they needed to get a bag of fluids in me before they could do it. The nurse could tell I was in a lot of pain and tried making the fluids go in faster. Once that was done the anesthesiologist came in and was super nice. I was having horrible contractions while he did the epidural it took all I had to focus on pain management so I could stay still enough for him to do it. After it was done, it took about 15 mins. for the pain to go away. considering that I was only at 4 cm when they did the epidural, christian decided to take a drive to downtown durango to pass the time. after about 20 mins. I started feeling a lot of pressure and called the nurse in to check me. I was dilated to 8 cm!!! What..how did that happen so fast? All those painful contractions I was having during the epidural must have made me dilate super fast. So I had her call christian to tell him to come back because it was going fast. 10 mins. later, it seemed the epidural was going to do all that it could because I was in a lot of discomfort even after pushing the button 3 times. So I called the nurse again to check...and what do you know I was at a 10!! What the? That was faster that I was even hoping for. The doctor was called and was there fairly fast, but still no christian. After the doctor had put on all her dressing and was getting ready for me to push, christian walks in. What a close call. I pushed for 3 contractions, about 10 mins. and out he came. No one could believe how fast it all happened. The doctor said I pushed like a pro. Wow..that's good to know. It was pretty intense the whole thing. The pushing was more painful that it had been with delia..then again I may not remember how it really was. He came out posterior with a handby his face..no wonder it hurt it what the doctor said. She was amazed at how fast he came out with him being posterior and with a hand. The minute she set him on top of me we mad eye contact and had that instant bond. the first thing I noticed was his eyes. He had Delia's eyes. So stunning! He also was smaller than Delia and so adorable. I was in labor for a total of 6.5 hrs. a far cry from the 22 hrs I was with Delia. The experience was so nice and much more relaxed this time around. I was glad I was able to have a better birth experience. I am so glad to have a little boy in our family. He is perfect and a sweet addition to our family.

since we brought him home he/we have had a difficult time with nursing. Because this was my first time to be able to successfully nurse it became extremely painful! on a scale of 1-10 it was a 12. I cried a lot and finally came to my breaking point where I couldn't do it anymore. My friend had a couple more suggestions before I gave up and one of them was to use a nipple sheild. I hoped and prayed on my way to the store that this would work and that I would not have to give up breastfeeding. What a miracle!! It worked. So now if I used it everytime I feed him I can fianlly enjoy it pain free! thus that is why I have not posted anything since he was born. I never thought I would have such a challenge with the pain. He cannot latch on all the way, thus causing my excrutiating pain. Thank goodness something worked. Now hopefully my stress level will go down and I will start eating more(have been too stressed and busy to think about eating) Now things will continue to get better from here on out!